COML/ENG Jennifer ReedMon/Wed/Thu1pm-1.50pm

Tel: x6-216 Office hours: Mon/Wed/Thu 12-1-pm and by appointment

The Novel and the City

Course Description

“[T]he city and the urban environment represent [humanity’s] most consistent and, on the whole, [its] most successful attempt to remake the world [it] lives in more after [its] heart’s desire. But if the city is the world which [humans] created, it is the world in which [they are] henceforth condemned to live.”

Robert E. Park, “The City as Social Laboratory” (1929)

The rise of the novel and the rise of the modern city go hand in hand. In this course we will inquire into the nature of the relationship between these two modern forms of world-making. Does the concentration and diversity of persons in the metropolis lend itself to the setting for, and perhaps even to the rise of the novel? We’ll think about the particular potentials afforded by the urban setting – flâneurs and chance meetings, social wholes and new class relations – as well as the novelist’s opportunities to present the large urban canvas – whether from the God’s-eye-view above, or the fragmentary city as experienced at street level. We’ll also think about cities and novels as forms that have shaped one another. How does the city allow the novelist to think about social life in new ways, and in return, what does the novel offer the city by way of forms, rhythms, and networks? We will read six novels about six cities, starting with Charles Brockden Brown’s urban American Gothic novel set in Philadelphia during the Yellow Fever epidemic – Arthur Mervyn (1799) – and ending with Orhan Pamuk’s postmodern detective novel set in Istanbul: The Black Book (1990). In between we will trace the development of the novel through Balzac and the age of Realism in Père Goriot (1835), Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment (1866), Virginia Woolf’s lyrical modernist city text Mrs. Dalloway (1925), and Nella Larsen’s novel of the Harlem Renaissance, Passing (1929). Alongside these novels we will read shorter literary and non-literary texts, including short stories, essays, and critical pieces.

Objectives

Close read and analyze the novel as well as short stories and images that contribute to our understanding of the novel genre.

Gain a sophisticated understanding of the concept of forms. Juxtapose novels from a variety of national and cultural traditions and develop

ways of thinking comparatively about distinctive iterations and shapes of the novel form.

Produce clear and critical oral and written analyses of a variety of texts.

Requirements

Do the readings before every class, and come prepared to discuss them with care andforethought, as participation will be a significant component of your grade. Students will read and post a short response to our readings to the class LATTE site on a weekly basis. You will also be responsible for one team teaching assignment, one short paper of 4-6 pages, a creative and critical assignment that allows students to think spatially about the novel, and a final interpretive paper of approximately 7-10 pages (this will be a 17-20 page paper for any graduate student members of the class, and those students looking to fulfill the requirements for the new major will have the option to write a 12-page paper).

Grade Breakdown

Assignment 1: 10%Assignment 2: 20%Assignment 3: 30%Attendance and Participation: 25%Team Teaching Assignment: 15%

Assignments

Assignment 1 (10%). A short close-reading paper (4-6 pages). Revisions encouraged after feedback, and grades given to revised papers will serve as the final grade for this assignment. Due on Monday February 6th.

Assignment 2 (20%). Architect Robert Venturi and planner Denise Scott Brown write, “A city is a set of intertwined activities that form a pattern on the land.” Create a map – geographical, or psychological – of one of the cities we have encountered so far this semester that provides an insight into the novel it appears in. Due on Wednesday March 22nd.

Assignment 3 (30%). Interpretive essay. Undergraduates will write a paper of 7-10 pages. For those students wishing to complete the requirement for the new major, you will have the option of writing a 12-page paper. Graduate students will write a paper of

17-20 pages. Remember that the word “essay” derives from the French infinitive “essayer,” meaning “to try.” Really good essays are exploratory, and respect ambivalence. Thoughtful risk-taking will be rewarded! Due on Wednesday May 3rd.

Late assignments will be penalized. For each day your assignment is late (including Saturdays and Sundays), your paper grade will be lowered by one-third of a grade (e.g., A- becomes B+). If you think you will need an extension on an assignment, you must ask me at least 72 hours before the assignment is due. I am not flexible on this rule. I am, however, generous about giving extensions so long as you come and talk to me about it in advance so that we can figure out a timeline that works for both of us.

N.B. I am very interested in helping my students improve their writing: make an appointment to meet with me. I also encourage you to visit the Brandeis Writing Center in Goldfarb 232 for help at any time during the semester.

Team teaching Assignment (15%). In pairs you will be responsible for team teaching a 30-minute period of class time. Think carefully about how best to engage your classmates with the assigned reading, and interactive. Each of you will turn in a two-paragraph reflective statement on the experience: the first paragraph will describe the choices you made as a group about how to co-lead the class, and the second paragraph will describe your individual contributions to your group’s work.

Attendance and Participation (25%).

You are allowed three absences during the semester; each subsequent absence will lower your final grade for the course by one-third of a grade (e.g., A- becomes B+). Class begins promptly at 12.30, so you should arrive before 12.30. Lateness is disruptive and disrespectful. Tardiness will negatively affect your participation grade.

You are responsible for handing in all work due on or before the due date, and for knowing all the material covered on days missed.

Your vocal and prepared participation will be essential. I will not be lecturing at you; instead, we will be exploring questions as a group. For this class to succeed, you must come prepared. Bring a copy of the text or texts we are discussing to every class. If the text is on the ‘Required Reading’ list, please bring the edition specified on that list. If the text is on LATTE, please print it out and bring a hard copy to class. On a very few occasions I will indicate ahead of time that we will consult an online text electronically during class, so you should bring a laptop if possible and I will project that text in class. Read your texts with a pen in hand: mark them up and refer to specific passages during discussion. In class, pose questions of your classmates and of me; propose answers to the questions posed by others; listen attentively to your peers.

In addition, you will post once a week to the class LATTE site, and these posts will constitute a part of your participation grade. These posts should go up by 9pm the day before our Tuesday or our Friday class. It is up to you whether you post on Tuesday’s material or Friday’s. You will post in the forum titled ‘Discussion Posts,’ which you will

find in LATTE under ‘General Forums.’ I will post suggested topics or questions each week, but you are also free to write on something that interests you, and that you think will provide good fodder for discussion, in the text(s) we are reading for that week. These posts will be between 250-300 words, and in them you might choose to engage closely with a moment in the assigned reading, or to respond more broadly to the ideas or strategies a text presents. This is a good place to identify something you found strange, ambiguous, or difficult, and to seek to engage with that ambiguity or strangeness, rather than trying to package or tame it. Be puzzled!

Respectful Discourse

My aim and hope in this course is to create an environment of respectful inclusivity. In class discussions we will not tokenize individuals, or make assumptions about the experience of any particular group. However, if one of us makes a mistake in the way we express ourselves, let’s respectfully hold each other accountable. If anything in this class makes any student uncomfortable, please come and talk to me about it and we will address it together as a class.

Laptop, Tablet, and Phone Policy

Electronic devices (including laptops and tablets) are not permitted in class, unless specific instructions are given in the class beforehand/by Quickmail that we’ll use laptops to consult electronic texts in class. All devices must be silenced and put away during class.

Disabilities

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

Academic Integrity

You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/srcs/rr/) for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides (http://guides.library.brandeis.edu/c.php?g=301723).

Required Texts:

All texts are available at the Brandeis University Bookstore. If you choose to purchase your books elsewhere, make sure to buy the correct edition below.

Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn ISBN 978-0872209213Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot ISBN 978-0199538751Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment ISBN 978-0143107637Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway ISBN 978-0156628709Nella Larsen, Passing  ISBN 9780142437278 Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book ISBN 978-1400078653

Reading and Assignment Schedule

Wednesday, January 18th Introduction to the course

Thursday, January 19th Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (3-48)

Monday, January 23rd Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (49-93)

Wednesday, January 25th Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (94-139)

Thursday, January 26th Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (140-195)

Monday, January 30th **No class, I will be traveling**

Wednesday, February 1st Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (196-248)

Thursday, February 2nd Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (248-296)

Monday, February 6th Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn (297-330)

**Assignment 1 Due on LATTE**

Wednesday, February 8th Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot (1-48)

Thursday February 9th **Snow Day**

Monday February 13th **

Wednesday February 15th Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot (48-100)

Thursday February 16th Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot (100-154)

Monday Feburary 20th **No class**

Wednesday February 22nd **No class**

Thursday February 23rd **No class**

Monday February 27th Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot (154-263)

Wednesday March 1st Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (3-49)

Thursday March 2nd Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (49-101)

Monday March 6th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (101-163)

Wednesday March 8th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (163-206)

Thursday March 9th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (206-248)

Monday March 13th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (249-309)

Wednesday March 15th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (309-335)

Thursday March 16th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (339-380)

Monday March 20th Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (380-435)

Wednesday March 22nd Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (435-468)

Thursday March 23rd Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (468-518)

**Assignment 2 Due on LATTE or in Hard Copy**

Monday March 27th Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (3-64)

Wednesday March 29th Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (64-128)

Thursday March 30th **No class, I will be traveling**

Monday April 3rd Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (128-194)

Wednesday April 5th Nella Larsen, Passing (p.9-47)

Thursday April 6th Nella Larsen, Passing (p.51-114)Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations”

Monday April 10th **No class**

Wednesday April 12th **No class**

Thursday April 13th **No class**

Monday April 17th **No class**

Wednesday April 19th Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (3-159)

Thursday April 20th Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (160-231)

Monday April 24th Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (235-306)

Wednesday April 26th Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (307-396)

Thursday April 27th Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (396-461)

Monday May 1st Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book (396-461)

Wednesday May 3rd Conclusions**Final Paper Due on LATTE**